UBS Group Raises Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target to $283.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price target lifted by UBS Group from $261.00 to $283.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

ESS has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $254.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $232.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $255.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $243.50 to $267.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $262.15.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.2 %

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $284.79 on Thursday. Essex Property Trust has a twelve month low of $203.85 and a twelve month high of $289.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $270.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.80. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.86.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.80%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total transaction of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.7% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,913 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $474,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 2,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $633,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&R Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.4% during the second quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.